Skills:
Cell Biology: Isolation and culture of adherent and non-adherent primary cells, cell lines (immortalized cells, cancer cells and pluripotent cells), with primary cell strains establishment from tissues and organs (extensively); growth of tissue engineered scaffolds/organoids in optimized bioreactor systems under conventional low gravity (HARV) and tissue-specific biomechanical conditions; testing and validation of cell research and cell therapy based product for growth of human cells in xeno-free and serum-free conditions with defined and human extracellular matrix extracts and in decellularized and recellularized tissues and organs and related allografts and biomaterials; imaging of cell/tissue constructs and organ cultures by light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy, multi-photon confocal microscopy, and live/timelapse microscopy, and with functional assays (electrophysiology, metabolism, neurite outgrowth, etc.); genetic engineering by gene transfer by integrating (lentiviral and retroviral) and non-integrating (Sendai virus, mRNA, AAV, electroporation, nucleofection) methods Isolation and cultivation of stem cells, including embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, dental pulp stem cells, bone marrow and adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells, and stem cell differentiation, including directed differentiation and embryoid body differentiation; flow cytometry and cell sorting (FACS and MACS) for cell isolation and purification for subsequent genotyping and karyotyping analyses Material Sciences: Isolation, processing, and characterization of synthetic and naturally derived materials including synthetic polymers (PCL, PDO, PLA, etc.), inorganic crystalline materials (hydroxyapatite, calcium pyrophosphate, calcium phosphate, etc.), naturally derived, complex, biologic materials (myocardium matrix, placenta matrix, dermal matrix, adipose matrix, Matrigel, etc.), purified biologic materials (collagens, laminins, growth factors, etc.), decellularized tissues and organs Material processing, tissue engineering and prototype assembly through 3D printing of polylactic acid, electrospinning of nanofibers and microfibers (both aligned fibers and random meshes), solvent evaporation, coating, hydrogel formation, melt processing, lamination, lyophilization, chemical and physical cross-linking, and compression molding. Material and device evaluation by biomechanical performance testing, including tensile testing, compliance, burst strength and suture retention (Instron), rheology, viscometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and SEM with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), microCT, light microscopy, mercury porosimetry and ethanol intrusion for porosity and void fraction, Raman and micro-Raman spectroscopy, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and also sterilization, shelf-life, fatigue and analytical stress testing; experience in process development and validation Proteomic, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology: SNiP genotyping and DNA sequencing; RNAi and Morpholino gene regulation and knock-out studies; mass spectrometry (hybrid quadrupole orbitrap, LC-MS/MS and MALDI-TOF); immunohistochemical staining of cells, tissues, and organs; MTT assay and Alamar blue assay metabolic assays; ELISA, Western blotting, SDS-PAGE, polyacrylamide gels, telomerase repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), and dot blot biochemical & enzymatic assays; protein expression/purification (HPLC); PCR and quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) Human and Small Animal Surgical Experience: Assisted complete human autopsies (by VCU Pathology) and organ and tissue recoveries (LifeNet Health); performed simulated posterior lumbar fusion spine surgery procedure on a human cadaver; performed simulated porcine transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion minimally invasive spine surgery (TLIF); performed subcuatenous iPSC and ESC (stem cell) injection for teratoma formations; performed intramuscular implantations for osteoinduction assays; assisted in calvarial critical size defect surgery; performed rodent intubation, cardiac monitoring, and myocardial infarction surgeries (LAD occlusion) with cell therapy injections; performed dorsal root ganglion and sciatic nerve surgery; performed mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) isolations Preclinical Studies: Experimental design and execution of in vitro assays (cytotoxicity, biocompatibility, cellular immunophenotyping, karyotyping, etc.) for the characterization of medical devices, cells and engineered tissues; design, lead and surgical implementation of animal models for the induction of bone (intramuscular and critical size defects) from medical device implants and for myocardial infarction remediation (LAD ligation models) with human cells and matrix scaffolds; working knowledge of relevant mammalian anatomy, surgical procedures, suturing, survival surgery and physiological monitoring for preclinical evaluation of biomedical devices for cardiovascular, osteobiologics, cranimaxillofacial, osteochondral, dermal, wound healing, sports medicine and musculoskeletal applications Submission of Scientific Writings Experience: 510(k) applications, NIH and DOD grant proposal applications, manuscripts, IACUC and patent applications (PCT, U.S., International)